Iran to soon surpass Qatar in South Pars: official

BANDAR ABBAS- With phase 14 going fully operational, Iran’s gas production from South Pars giant gas field (which Iran shares with Qatar in Persian Gulf) will surpass the Arab country, operator of the South Pars Phase 14 of development, Hamid-Reza Masoudi, said.

“The production from the field is around 500-570 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) on average and with the phase 14 going operational, Iran’s output from the joint field will exceed that of Qatar, the official said in a press conference in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Tuesday after loading the platform 14A of phase 14.

“The two countries are recovering almost equal amounts of gas from the field,” he added.

Phase 14 is expected to produce 56.6 million cubic meters of sour gas and 75,000 billion barrels of gas condensate per day, one million tons of liquefied gas and one million tons of ethane per year, and 400 tons a day of sulfur.

The 2,530-ton platform 14A is projected to be installed on its designated offshore spot on January 20-22, starting production in phase 14.

According to the official, Phase 14 is progressing very smoothly and the project has currently witnessed near 77 percent of physical progress.

“Of the phase’s total 44 wells, 22 have been completed and drilling operations of another 11 wells will be done within two months,” Masoudi said.

‘The “most Iranian” Platform of South Pars field’

Masoudi called platform 14A, “the most Iranian platform” among the South Pars platforms constructed so far, saying, over 70 percent of the equipment applied for constructing platform 14A have been domestically manufactured and just those equipment that manufacturing them required some high technology have been imported.

He also put the average application of domestically manufactured equipment in development of South Pars at 60 percent.

According to the operator, the cost of constructing this platform considering additional equipment needed for operation is estimated around $160 million.

The 35-by-35-meters platform has a height of 18 meters and 680 tons of equipment, including 71 kilometers of electric cables, 15,000 pieces of instrumentation equipment as well as 34,000 pieces of welding poles are mounted on it.

A consortium of Iranian companies including, Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO), Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company, Iran National Drilling Company, Iran Offshore Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Complex (ISOICO) and Mapna Group Company is in charge of implementing South Pars’ phase 14 development project.

The huge South Pars gas field, that Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which, called South Pars, are in Iran’s territorial waters. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers, called North Dome, are situated in Qatar’s territorial waters.

The field is estimated to contain a significant amount of natural gas, accounting for about eight percent of the world’s reserves, and approximately 18 billion barrels of condensate.